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Suriyanelli case: Victim's plea posted to April 2

Kochi, Mar 26, 2013 (PTI):

The Kerala High Court today posted to April 2 the petition filed by the Suriyanelli rape victim, seeking appointment of two new special prosecutors to conduct the case, for hearing the government's views.

The order was issued by Justice Antony Dominique before whom the petition came up today.The victim had complained that Director General of Prosecutions (DGP) T Asaf Ali had tendered adverse legal advise to her in her complaint against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien and that she would be "greatly prejudiced" if he conducts a hearing on the appeals.

The previous prosecutors, Suresh Babu Thomas and C S Ajayan, who conducted the case successfully at the special court, Kottayam, were conversant with all details of the case and would take minimum time to prepare the case and hence they should be appointed, she submitted.

Despite new evidence cropping up as revealed by key accused Darmarajan against Kurien, government and police on the advise of DGP refused to take action against him. If the DGP conducts the case, she would be "greatly prejudiced", she said.The case relates to the rape of the teenage girl of Suriyanelli in Idukki district in 1996. She was allegedly abducted and taken to different places and sexually exploited by 40-odd persons.

The victim had also filed a complaint against Kurien, listing him as an accused in the case along with three others in the light of revelations by Dharmarajan to a TV channel.Kurien had maintained that all charges against him had been cleared by the High Court and the Supreme Court.

On March 2, a local court had rejected a plea by the victim for a fresh probe into the alleged involvement of Kurien in the case, holding there was no new ground for a fresh investigation.